A New Crisis Ch 12 Sect 3

Vocabulary States’ Rights – The right of states to limit the power of the federal government Nullification – Idea that a state has the right to nullify, or cancel a federal law that the state leader consider to be unconstitutional Secede – To withdraw Depression – Period when business activity slows, prices and wages fall, and unemployment rises Mudslinging – The use of insults to attack an opponent’s reputation.

A Crisis Over Tariffs In 1828, Congress passes the highest tariff or tax in the history of our nation. Southerners referred to it as “The Tariff of Abominations.” Vice President John C. Calhoun claimed that states had the right to nullify or cancel a law they considered wrong. Daniel Webster disagreed stating that if states could get rid of federal law the country would fall apart.

The Nullification Crisis Congress lowered the tariff, but southern states were still mad. South Carolina passed the Nullification Act that declared the tariff illegal and said the south would secede from the Union if challenged. President Jackson responded by supporting an even lower tariff, but also asked Congress to pass a law saying the President could enforce the tariff by using the army. This scared the other states so no one else sided with South Carolina so they repealed the Nullification Act.

The Civilized Tribes The Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and the Seminole tribes attempted to embrace the American way of life. A Cherokee named Sequoyah even created a written alphabet for the Cherokees. They are known as the “Civilized Tribes.”

Worcester v. Georgia Many Indian nations, like the Cherokees, lived in the southeastern part of the US. As cotton production became more profitable, more and more people wanted to move those Indians off their land in order to use it for farming. Georgia claimed the land and tried to remove the Indians, but the Indians sued to stop them in the court case Worcester v. Georgia.

Who do you think the Supreme Court should side with and why? The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Indians declaring that Georgia’s actions were unconstitutional and that Native Americans were protected by the Constitution. However, President Jackson refused to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision.

Trail of Tears In the end, Jackson helped to quickly pass the Indian Removal Act. This would remove Indians from their current land, and take them to land west of the Mississippi. The Indians tried to resist, but it was no use. The US army forced over 15,000 Indians on a hard journey which was over 1000 miles. The Indians had to walk the entire way, and thousands of people (mostly children and the elderly) died. The journey became known as the Trail of Tears.

The Panic of 1837 Martin Van Buren became the president in 1837 and immediately had to deal with an economic crisis. Jackson had ordered that all land in the west be purchased using only gold or silver rather than paper money which caused a panic and several banks had to close. Cotton prices fell making it difficult for farmers to repay loans. The economic depression lasted 3 years and the people blamed Van Buren.

Election of 1840 The Democrats chose to try and get Van Buren elected. The Whigs chose William Henry Harrison for their candidate. They focused on his war record by calling him the Hero of Tippecanoe. They also said he was a “Man of the People” even though he was actually very wealthy and grew up in a mansion. The campaign had a lot of mudslinging, but Harrison won in the end.